Secrets
by ShadowJ51
Summary: When a new group of children are called into the digital world, everything seems to go well at first. But the longer they stay there, the deeper they dive into a thousand year fight, and the darker the secrets they discover are...
1. Prologue

Prologue

Shadow- "Before I begin, I'd just like to warn you that there are no characters from the original series in this story. I own them all. That being said: Hello again, reader!"

Renamon- "Again? What makes you think they've read your stories before?"

Shadow- "Oh, that's true... well, my name (as you may have guessed) is Shadow, and this is Renamon, my digimon partner and muse."

Renamon- "And occasional source of annoyance."

Shadow- "Very true. In case you aren't familiar with the format I use, here's a guide so you aren't confused:

"Speech"

_Thought_

**Setting**

I hope that makes it clear."

Renamon- "Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "And since it's a new story (even though it's a prologue), please leave a review!"

* * *

**local high school**

Lightning flashed, lighting up the rooftops of the city for a brief moment. By the time the thunder came, the second bolt had already struck the ground... revealing a figure, cloaked in darkness, sitting atop the building's humming air-conditioning unit. The figure stared purposefully towards a nearby apartment complex.

The figure flipped back its hood, revealing nothing in the rain-filled darkness. The clouds seemed to hold back their lightning, so as to not cast light upon the shadowy figure.

It finally nodded, satisfied, and whispered "One of those whose crest is the strongest... the most likely candidate for that old fool's next attempt..."

It reached down momentarily, then motioned at the building. The air seemed to shudder, and the rain momentarily froze in midair.

The figure paused for a moment, as if listening, then nodded again, satisfied. "Oh, and one more thing..."

It reached down towards the air conditioner below itself. There was a sound of rending metal, a frying sound, and then the humming ceased.

The dark figure split apart into shadows, and vanished. A bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the rooftop, showing no change... except for the gaping hole in the side of the steel wall...


	2. Fire Drill

Fire Drill

Shadow- "I was searching on Youtube recently... and I came across the subbed episodes for digimon savers... and let me just say, even though I've only watched a few episodes, that if someone submitted that story as a fanfic... I wouldn't waste my time with it."

Renamon- "That bad?"

Shadow- "Yeah. In the first episode, the main HUMAN character punches a champion digimon. It falls down. And gets hurt. At that point, I yelled at the computer "Don't turn the damn show into "Digi-ball Z"! If he can do that, why does he need Agumon?!?!" ...it's so damn derivative..."

Renamon- "...wow... um, Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "And please leave a review..."

* * *

**local high school, Mark's POV**

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

Mark rushed up the school steps three at a time. "Why am I always late for the first day?"

Panting, out of breath, he slid around a corner, nearly colliding with two girls, one with brown hair and the other with blonde, saying something about broken air conditioning.

The blonde girl turned to face him, and aimed a kick at him. Mark dodged, and slid to a stop at his locker.

He grabbed his books and slammed the door shut, pausing only at admire his reflection. His brown hair stood out at all angles, spiked with gel. He'd chosen a red shirt today, which managed to clash horribly with his jeans. Oh, one more thing: he wore a pair of blue goggles strapped around his neck.

He grinned at his reflection. _Looking good..._

The bell cut into his thoughts. "Damn it!" he yelled again, running for his classroom.

**period one, Kai's POV**

Kai looked up from his desk as some brown haired kid rushed into the room, sweating. The kid slid in to his desk, breathing hard.

Kai sighed. _Why does he bother rushing if he's already late?_

Nobody else seemed to share his opinion, and ignored the late arrival.

The teacher stood up at the front of the class. "Okay, everyone, who's ready to learn some Algebra?"

Kai laid his head on the desk as everyone groaned. _Only ten billion hours till summer..._

**lunch**,** Mark's POV**

Mark watched as the lunch people slapped something possibly edible onto his tray. He looked at it, pausing only to mutter "Yech..."

After paying for the 'food', Mark scanned the tables for Kurt. He wasn't hard to spot. No other guy in the lunchroom had his particular shade of blonde hair.

Mark sat down next to his friend. Kurt wore a white short-sleeved jacket over a green shirt, a necklace with a black scarab on it, a pair of blue jeans... and was already halfway through his food-like thing.

Mark blanched. "Jeez... how can you eat that stuff..."

Kurt swallowed his bite, and laughed. "Hey, we're at a new school... better get used to it."

Mark shrugged, and sniffed his food. _Hmm... fishy. _While looking for a way to avoid eating his lunch, he spotted a boy from his math class who had spent the period sleeping.

Mark looked him over. Short black hair, black jacket, grey shirt, blue jeans, listening to music... Mark snorted. "Fricking Emo..."

Kurt shook his head. "Hey, you gotta fit in somewhere..."

Mark looked over at his friend to retort, and caught him staring at a group of girls. Including the blonde girl who'd nearly decapitated him earlier. Mark grinned. "Hey, if you're after her, you're gonna get some bruises."

Kurt flushed. "A-after who?"

"The blonde girl."

Kurt shook his head. "Not her... I don't date girls with shirts I can't understand..."

Mark looked again. The girl wore black soccer shorts, and a grey jacket over a blue shirt that read "less than three" on the front.

Mark blinked. "What the hell...?"

Kurt shrugged. "No idea... but it's not her... it's the girl with brown and blue hair..."

Mark looked again. It was the other girl from earlier. She wore a necklace made of turquoise over a green shirt, and blue jeans. She looked at them. She saw them both staring.

Both Mark and Kurt turned away, blushing. "Crap, she saw us." Mark whispered.

Mark peeked at the group again. They were leaving. "Whew..." Mark said, remembering the near-miss with the blonde girl's foot earlier.

Kurt looked disappointed. "Aw... I wanted to talk to her..."

Mark looked back at his lunch. Still gross. _Oh well... only young once... _he thought, and took a bite.

He chewed once. _Hmm... fishy._

**fourth period, Mark's POV**

Mark eased into his seat, close to the room's computers. The fish was not sitting well. He burped quietly, and looked around the room. _At least Kurt's in this class... _he thought.

As he looked over the rest of the kids, he saw the emo kid sitting near the back. He also saw the blonde girl and the brown and blue haired girl. She also saw him.

_Damn it!_ He turned to the front of the class to ignore her, just as the teacher walked in.

As the teacher started the lesson, Mark could feel eyes focused on the back of his head. _Don't turn around... it's her, nothing else... don't-_ Mark turned around.

The brown and blue haired girl was staring at him. She blushed, and flicked her eyes to the front of the room. Mark blinked. _Wha- she likes me? What...? No, damn it! Like Kurt! Like Kurt!_

The girl continued to ignore him. Mark heard his name called, and turned back to the front of the room.

The teacher was glaring at him. "What exactly were you looking at, Mr. Curtis?"

"...um..." Mark mumbled, wondering what to say.

Fortunately, he was saved by the bell. Literally. The fire alarm went off, blaring through the halls. The teacher sighed.

"Some idiot always pulls it on the first day..." she mumbled. She raised her voice so the entire class could hear. "Okay everyone, line up calmly by the door!"

As the teacher hurried to hold the door for the class, the emo kid laughed. "Yeah, make sure to die in an orderly fashion..."

Mark heard someone giggle at the joke. He turned. It was the blonde girl who'd tried to kill him earlier. _Huh?_

By this time, everyone else had already lined up, and started to leave. The emo kid waited near the back of the line, bored. The two girls stood near him. Apparently the blonde girl wanted to talk to him. _I... will never understand girls..._ Mark thought. He spotted Kurt waiting for him near the door.

As he got up, his chair knocked the computer. The screen snapped on. Mark looked at it, and saw the message

WILL YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT YOUR DESTINY?

Y/N

Mark looked back at the door. The five of them were the only ones left in the room. Mark shrugged. _What the heck..._

He pressed Y.

The screen flashed brilliant white, blinding him. He felt something pulling at him... and felt his feet leave the ground...

The teacher at the door looked back in the room. No one there. _Good._ "Okay, everyone, heard out!" The students, minus Mark, Kurt, and the three others, left for the schoolyard.


	3. The Calm Forest

The Calm Forest

Shadow- "Hello everyone!"

Renamon- "..."

Shadow- "Yeah. Renamon's not speaking to me right now. ...why, you ask?"

Renamon- "Shadow was "teaching" me to play Mau."

Shadow- "It's a card game. The first rule: I can't tell you the rules. You have to figure them out as you go. ...apparently, Renamon's a sore loser."

Renamon- "Shadow does not own digimon. And I'm still not speaking to you!"

Shadow- "Didn't you just?"

Renamon- "...you know what? Screw you." (leaves)

Shadow- "...okay... remember to review!"

* * *

**digital world, tertiary forest, Mark's POV**

All Mark could see was the brilliant flash of light. He squinted through the glare, and caught a glimpse of blinding colors, flashing redgoldvioletgreenumbersilverorangewhiteindigo... too many, too fast.

Then, everything disappeared, leaving only the afterimage in his view.

He blinked his eyes rapidly, and his vision slowly cleared. He could see large brown blobs surrounding him, and one big green blob above him. _Oh... a forest..._ As his vision cleared more, a hazy image of some big lizard blurred into view.

"Oh, hello..." he muttered woozily.

"Hi!" the lizard answered.

Mark blinked a few more times, and the image solidified. _Yup, definitely a lizard._

Mark sighed. _Jeez... I must be going crazy... thinking that a lizard just spoke to me..._

The lizard cocked its head. "What's wrong?" it asked.

Mark blinked again. _Is it a lizard? Yes. Is it talking? ...Yes. ...only one thing to do then..._

**digital world, tertiary forest, Krystal's POV**

Krystal sat up, shaking her brown and blue hair. She heard someone scream. Really loud. Really high pitched.

She looked over, and saw the boy that had looked at her at lunch, passed out on the ground. _That scream was him?_

At his feet sat a green lizard with blue spines along its back, and big yellow eyes. The lizard looked at her.

"What's wrong with him?" the lizard asked.

Krystal's eyes widened. She opened her mouth slightly.

She screeched, and lunged at the lizard.

**digital world, tertiary forest, Serenity's POV**

Serenity woke up to the sound of her best friend, Krystal, screeching. She looked over, expecting trouble.

Instead, she found her cuddling a green lizard. Krystal squeaked something about it being really cute. The lizard looked vaguely uncomfortable.

"Hey, what about me?" Serenity heard something say.

She turned and saw a turquoise and gold fox sitting there, looking at Krystal. Next to it sat a large red bird with green on the tips of its wings. The bird stared at Serenity.

Serenity growled. "What are you lookin' at, bird?"

The bird squawked, and flew back a few steps. "How come I get the violent one?" it asked.

Serenity blinked for a moment, and as Krystal squealed again and leapt at the fox, everything clicked into place.

The computer lab. The kid who ran into her in the hall. Him clicking something on the computer. A flash of light from the computer.

"So... um..." Serenity said as Krystal spun the fox around in a circle, "Is all this just some virtual reality program?"

"Well, you're partially correct..." the bird said, flapping a little bit closer.

A guy's voice cut the bird off. "Hey, can somebody tell this thing to stop following me?"

Serenity turned around, and saw the kid wearing dark clothes and short black hair from her class. Next to him fluttered an orange and red sparrow looking thing... except it was the size of a dog.

"Hey, what's wrong?" the bird said in a high pitched voice. "Why won't you look at me? Why-y?"

The green lizard shook its head, finally free of Krystal. "Look, maybe we should start by explaining what we are..."

"Yeah, that might be good..." said another voice. Serenity looked over, and saw a blonde kid sitting there with a light blue and grey cat sitting next to him.

The lizard looked annoyed, but continued on. "Well, we're digimon, short for di-"

The lizard stopped when it saw the kid who'd fainted sit back up, shaking his head. He looked from the lizard, to the other kids, to the other creatures. He sighed. "Someone better explain this..."

Serenity growled. "Well, stop interrupting then, goggle-head!"

"Oh, nice." he said back sarcastically. "Like I haven't heard that one before."

Serenity snorted, but said nothing._ Idiot..._

The lizard sighed. "Look, I'll just start again, shall I?" when nobody interrupted, it nodded. "Good. We are digimon, short for digital monsters, and this... is the digital world."

Krystal perked up. "Like a video game?"

Serenity smiled. _Back to her normal self, I see..._ "Finally get tired of swinging around the cute widdle foxy poo?" Serenity said, half mocking her.

Krystal shrugged, now ignoring the dizzy fox. "I like games more than animals"

"Wait..." the kid who'd fainted said. "This place is a game?"

"Not exactly..." the red bird said. "While this place is digital, it is not a game. This place is real."

"Like virtual reality?" Serenity asked again.

"No." the bird said. "You are actually here. You haven't left your bodies somewhere in your world... you really are here."

"So... it's like an MMORPG?" Krystal asked.

The bird blinked. "A what now?"

"You know... massively multiplayer online role playing game."

"Um... sure."

Krystal smiled. "Ooh... does that mean there are bad guys?"

"Yes, there are-" the bird was cut off by Krystal.

"Yes! Let's go level up!"

The guy wearing dark clothes sighed. "Look, kid, this is real." when Krystal didn't shut up, he picked up a rock and threw it at her.

"Ow!" Krystal yelled. "What'd you do that for?"

"This place is real." the boy said. "Real enough to hurt you. ...probably real enough to kill, too."

Krystal's face froze as she thought about this. "K-kill?"

"Yeah." the boy said. He looked around at all the others. "...come to think of it, who are all you people? I know you go to my school, but..." he shrugged. "...I don't know any of you..."

"Well... I'm Mark." said the kid who'd fainted. "And this is my friend Kurt." he said, nodding to the blonde kid.

Krystal blushed slightly. "Well, I'm Krystal! Nice to meet you!"

Serenity shook her head. "Well, since she isn't going to introduce me... my name's Serenity."

Mark laughed. "Serenity? That's your name? You nearly killed me back at school!"

"You want me to actually try next time?" Serenity growled.

Mark gulped. "No ma'am."

The black haired kid shrugged. "Well, my name's Kai." He turned to the digimon. "Now... do you things have names?"

The lizard nodded. "Yup. My name's Lacertamon."

"My name's Passimon." said the sparrow digimon.

"My name is Autamon." the red bird said.

"My name is Daxemon." said the light blue cat.

The fox digimon still looked sick from Krystal's spinning, and didn't answer right away. Finally, it managed to whisper "My name... is Sevramon... and I'd... like the world... the stop going around in circles now..."

Krystal smiled. "Aw... you're so cute..." she reached out to stroke the fox's fur.

A light appeared in her hand, and after a moment one appeared in the other's hands as well. Serenity watched as the light in her hand morphed into a small pink PDA shaped thing, with a large screen and several oddly-colored buttons. On the screen flickered an image of the red bird, Autamon. Below it, text scrolled down.

PARTNER DIGIMON: AUTAMON

LEVEL: ROOKIE

TYPE: DATA

ATTACKS: WHIRLWIND PECK, TALON SLASH

Serenity looked up at Autamon. Mark looked at Lacertamon. Kai looked at Passimon. Krystal looked at Sevramon. Kurt nodded, already sitting next to Daxemon.

Autamon hopped over to Serenity. Serenity paused for a moment, then said "Hey, Autamon... you said there were bad guys here?"

The red bird started to respond, but an explosion above them, setting fire to the treetops, cut the digimon off.

Autamon nodded. "Yes... and it looks like you'll have to find out whether you can make it as a digidestined..."


	4. The Scarred Forest

The Scarred Forest

Shadow- "...wow... I'm impressed... I've gotten more hits (and reviews) in three chapters than I have in most of my other stories. I must be doing something right... oh, by the way, a big thank you to Nameless Dragon, digi-writer1392, Renaki, Dag 417, and Narissa for reviewing!"

Renamon- "Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "Please remember to review!"

* * *

**digital world, tertiary forest, Kai's POV**

Kai read the text off the screen of the dark grey device that had appeared in his hand.

PARTNER DIGIMON: PASSIMON

LEVEL: ROOKIE

TYPE: DATA

ATTACKS: HIGH DROP, QUICK BEAK

_Those have gotta be the stupidest names for attacks ever..._ Kai thought.

He looked up to see what the others were doing just in time to see a fireball impact with the forest canopy above them, sending waves of heat and leafy cinders raining down on them.

Autamon said something about 'bad guys', as everybody else looked up.

Six large wickedly curved claws slashed through the burnt forest above them, ripping apart the bows of the trees with a series of snaps. Sunlight blasted through the opening, and Kai shielded his eyes with his sleeve.

His eyes quickly adjusted, and he saw the creature who had attacked them.

The digimon's head was framed by the broken and burning tops of the trees. It was blazing orange and had what looked like a plate-mail helmet on its head, and its head and upper neck were shaped like a dragon's. Kai snorted. _If I had to have a 'partner', why couldn't I have had that thing?_ The digimon grinned at them, revealing rows of razor-sharp silver teeth.

Fire licked around the edges of the teeth. _Crap, it's gonna attack again!_ "Everyone, move!" Kai yelled, running for cover deeper in the forest.

He looked back, and stopped running after only a few feet. The others were all staring stupidly up at the dragon in shock. _Damn it, they're gonna be fried!_

"Dark Side Attack!" The dragon yelled, and spat fire into the forest. Kai watched as the others panicked. Serenity covered her head.

Their digimon, though, stood firm. Each one yelled out something different. "Flare Ball!" "Thunder Paw!" "Whirlwind Peck!" "Kitsune Yomeiri!" "Quick Beak!" Kai recognized the last as one of Passimon's attacks.

Streaks of fire and lightning shot upward, intercepting the dragon's attack, and dispersing it. The forest around them caught fire, but no one was hurt.

Kai's digivice flashed once. He looked at it, and saw a picture of the dragon.

DIGIMON: MEGADRAMON

LEVEL: ULTIMATE

TYPE: VIRUS

ATTACKS: DARK SIDE ATTACK, ULTIMATE SLICER

SPECIAL ABILITY: INFERNO

Kai ran over to Passimon. "How did you-"

Before he could finish, the dragon gnashed its teeth, annoyed. "Fine then, if you won't go quietly, then I'll just-"

Daxemon shot forward. "Time Stop!" it yelled.

Kai felt the breath catch in his mouth. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe. He couldn't even think. He only watched as the cat digimon shot upwards at the now-motionless dragon. It slashed several times at the dragon's head, but did no damage.

The air around them and the dragon wavered. Kai felt himself take a half-breath. Daxemon shuddered slightly, then leapt back to the ground, just as the time freeze ended.

Kai took a deep breathe, and staggered slightly. He looked up, and saw the dragon shake its head slightly.

Kai looked over, and saw Daxemon laying on the ground, panting for air. He felt a little sorry for the digimon.

Megadramon growled again, snapping Kai's attention back up. "As I was saying, I'll just overwhelm you! Inferno!"

A blazing outline of fire shot from the dragon at them, filling the sky with a hellish light. The rookie digimon tried again to block it, but failed. As the fire continued on, Krystal screamed. Krystal's digivice lit up, as did Sevramon.

DIGIVOLUTION

"Sevramon, digivolve to... Slanemon!"

"Overshield!" the new digimon yelled, and a curtain of shimmering light snapped into place between them and the flames.

The sky above them filled with fire for a moment, then dissipated. The curtain vanished as well, and Kai looked around at the changed forest.

Forest wasn't really the right word anymore. For hundreds of meters around them, all that was left were burnt stumps and smouldering ashes. The ground on which they stood was the only patch of green left.

The Megadramon moved back slightly. "Wha- how...?"

Kai looked over at Slanemon. Its fur was a shimmering mix of aqua and gold, and blue eyes stared back angrily at the Megadramon as its three tails swished lightly.

"Kitsune Twister!" It yelled, as its three tails spun, creating a wheel of turquoise fire, which then shot at the Megadramon.

The digimon roared in pain as the attack slammed into it, and it fell down onto the burnt earth. It stayed down.

Mark cheered, as Slanemon de-digivolved. The rookie fox digimon, however, did not look happy. "Hurry! We need to go!"

"Huh? Why?" Mark asked. "We won!"

Lacertamon shook its head. "No, we didn't. When digimon are killed, their data loses coherency, and it disappears."

Kai looked back at the Megadramon. It looked pretty coherent.

"So... now what?" Kai asked.

"Simple."Sevramon answered as the Megadramon growled faintly. "We run!"

Kai and the others were so surprised that they stood there for a moment watching the injured digimon as their rookies started running.

"Come on!" Passimon yelled.

Kai snapped out of it, and ran after their digimon, with the others close behind him.

He heard Megadramon roar in pain and anger, just as the group passed from the boundary of the scorched earth into the sanctity of the forest.


	5. We Have To

We Have To

Shadow- "Hey, everyone. New chapter. ...really not much else to say. Except: HOLY CRAP YOU'RE ACTUALLY REVIEWING! YAY!"

Renamon- "Shadow does not own digimon. Everything else in this story, Shadow does own."

Shadow- "Please remember to review!"

* * *

**digital world, tertiary forest, Krystal's POV**

Krystal ran through the forest, trying to hold back tears. _What the hell was that thing? And why did it attack us?_

She gulped, trying to keep her vision clear. _I always hated random encounters..._

She looked over at the other four teens, including her friend, Serenity. _I wish we were just back home..._

She heard the big digimon roar again. She started to cover her ears again, then checked the motion. _No! Gotta be brave!_ She closed her eyes to concentrate. _Gotta be brave_. _Gotta be brave_. _Gotta be-_

She felt something smash into her, and she fell down hard. She opened her eyes, her vision swimming before her. When her vision cleared, she saw what had hit her: A tree. _Okay... never close your eyes while running through a forest..._

She shook her head, and looked up as someone spoke to her. Serenity looked down at her. "You okay?" she asked.

Krystal half-smiled, and nodded. "Yeah... I think so..."

Her friend laughed. "You might wanna look out for trees from now on."

Krystal blushed. "Y-yeah..."

A dark shadow flashed overhead. Both girls looked up. "What was that?" Serenity asked.

"It appears," Autamon said, "That Megadramon is not looking too hard for us."

Krystal looked down, and saw Autamon there, as well as all the others. Mark sighed, clearly not happy that they had run. "So... now what?"

Autamon turned to Mark. "We need to visit the old program who told us about you five... who you were, where and when you were coming..."

The shadow passed overhead again. Kurt looked up. "I hope he's nearby. We could use a lucky break."

Autamon nodded. "Yeah, he is. It's not that far of a walk."

A half hour later, the 'not that far of a walk' had turned into a very, very long walk. Autamon huffed when Kai complained. "We'd be there already if you could just fly..."

To pass the time, Krystal decided to get to know her partner better. _It's the least I can do after it saved me..._

"So... um..." Krystal said, looking at her fox digimon trotting beside her.

Sevramon looked up.

"Thanks for saving us." Krystal finished lamely.

"What'd you expect, I'd let us all die?" The digimon responded. "Besides, you helped me... your digivice allowed me to digivolve."

"Oh." Krystal said. After a moment, she looked back at her digimon.

"Say... um... you sound female, so... are you a girl, or is your voice just programmed like that?"

Her digimon's response sounded irritated. "Humans have genders. Did you think that we wouldn't?"

Krystal bit her lip. "Do you always respond with questions?"

To her surprise, the little digimon giggled. It slyly answered "Why, am I?"

Krystal grinned. "Yes you are, you little sneak!"

The human and digimon laughed together, but were interrupted by Autamon. "We're here."

Krystal looked up from her digimon partner. In front of them stood a small wooden shack. Though the wood was rotting, and moss grew along the sides, it appeared miraculously intact.

Lacertamon slithered over to the door. He beat his tail on the door a couple of times.

After a moment, Krystal saw the door crack open slightly. Lacertamon peeked around the corner. The door then swung the rest of the way open.

A man stood there, slightly bent with age. His white hair was tied back in a short ponytail, and her wore what appeared to be blue and white ceremonial robes. The man nodded at them.

Krystal saw Serenity look forward slightly, in a gesture that clearly said "huh?" Kurt pressed a few buttons on his digivice.

The old man waved at Kurt. "Put that thing away, it won't have any information on me."

Kurt started, and put the device away. "So... you're human?"

The man snorted. "Hardly. I'm just an old program, whose function has long since become useless. I was re-purposed to help guide young digidestineds on their way."

"I can believe that..." Kai murmured.

The man ignored him. "So, children, you have been guided here by your digimon partners. How many of your digimon can digivolve to the champion level?"

Krystal raised her hand, and to everyone's surprise, so did Kurt. Krystal stared at him. Kurt shrugged. "Hey, she was like that when I found her."

The old man sighed. "It's not ideal... but I suppose it can't be helped... come on, I'll show you inside..."

As the man turned back to the hut, the shadow of Megadramon passed over them again. The man stopped. "Didn't you defeat that monster?"

Kai shook his head. "No, we just-"

A blast of fire seared the treetops. Krystal and the others looked up. "Quick, get inside!" Mark yelled to the old man. "We'll stop him."

"I certainly hope so..." the old man muttered, before disappearing into the shed.

Krystal looked up as the trees ripped apart once again, and the big digimon reared its head, and roared.

Krystal trembled slightly, but held her digivice firm. This time, she'd fight with her all, and this time, they'd win. _We have to._


	6. New Champions

New Champions

Shadow- "Insanity ensues."

Renamon- "...what?"

Shadow- "Just being prophetic."

Renamon- "...does-"

Shadow- "Yes."

Renamon- "...o ...kay... Shadow does not own digimon... but does creep me out sometimes..."

Shadow- "You will review."

* * *

**digital world, tertiary forest, Mark's POV**

Flames exploded over Mark's head. He grinned inwardly. _Good... I was hoping we'd get to finish that thing off!_

"Quick, get inside!" he yelled to the old man. "We'll stop him."

The man slipped back behind the door, and it whispered shut.

Mark turned his attention to the dragon overhead. Its sinuous tail twirled as it spoke "You have evaded my attacks, you have mocked me, and you have caused me pain... for that, I will delete you all... slowly, and painfully."

Mark grinned. "Oh, is that all?"

Megadramon gnashed its teeth. "Fool. You will be the first to go. Dark Side Attack!"

The ball of fire shot straight at Mark. Lacertamon whirled in front of it. "I don't think so!" his digimon yelled, as he began to glow pure white.

DIGIVOLUTION

"Lacertamon... digivolve to... Besermon!"

Mark felt the breath leave his chest as his digimon slammed into him, knocking out of the way of the attack. Mark gasped for breath, desperately sucking air. By the time he'd got his breath, and stood up, the smoke had cleared. There was no sign of Lacertamon.

"Lacertamon!" Mark yelled.

The ultimate digimon chuckled. "Your pathetic digimon 'Lacertamon' has been deleted... and you shall be next."

Mark heard something whisper in his ear "I'm Besermon now!"

He felt something brush past him. He looked, and only saw the air waver slightly. Megadramon's head snapped back, as if struck. It shook its head, and looked around. "What...?"

"Flare Blaster!" the attack shot out of thin air, and scorched Megadramon's scales. The dragon digimon lashed out with one of its clawed hands, and a loud 'thunk' echoed through the forest.

Mark watched as a furrow of dirt flew up into the air. A skid mark, with nothing in it, sped towards Mark, stopping just short of him. The air shimmered, sparked, and a battered green and blue lizard faded into view.

"Hey, I tried..." it said. It sounded like Lacertamon.

Mark's digivice dinged. He looked down.

DIGIMON: BESERMON

LEVEL: CHAMPION

TYPE: VACCINE

ATTACKS: FLARE BLASTER, SHARD SABRE

SPECIAL ABILITY: CAMOUFLAGE

The Megadramon growled. "Damn little... Ultimate Slicer!"

The dragon crossed its arms over its chest, then slashed its arms towards them, unleashing two blades of twirling energy.

Mark watched as the energy slammed into Kai and Serenity, just after their digimon exploded with light. Mark heard someone behind him say "What the hell?" he turned around.

A very bewildered Kai and Serenity stood next to each other, held by a large orange bird and a large red bird. The names Meflimon and Rimsaeramon flashed over Mark's digivice.

The two digimon set down their partners, and nodded at Besermon. The lizard digimon got to his feet.

Megadramon looked uneasy. "Um..."

Krystal's digivice lit up, and Sevramon morphed again into Slanemon. Daxemon jumped down from Kurt's shoulder, and stood next to the other four champions.

Megadramon paused for a moment, and growled. "It wouldn't matter if you had a hundred champions! You'll never win! Inferno!"

"Overshield!" Slanemon yelled, protecting them all.

When the attack dissipated, Mark saw Megadramon floating there, panting. He watched as the ultimate digimon looked at their champions. "Crap..."

"Shard Sabre!" Besermon yelled, as its blue scales flipped up, turned to light, and hurtled at the dragon.

"Beak Slicer!" A beam of energy shot from Meflimon's beak.

"Thunder Paw!" Lightning arced towards Megadramon.

"Whirlwind Blade!" The air in front of Rimsaeramon spun into knives, and shot at the digimon.

"Explosive Tails!" Three balls of crimson energy shot towards the dragon.

The five attacks converged, and exploded in a ball of pure energy. Megadramon screamed momentarily, then was swallowed up by the light.

When Mark could see again, there was no trace of the dragon. Their digimon were rookies again, except for Daxemon, and looked extremely tired. The forest around them was burnt to the ground from a combination of Megadramon's Inferno and their own attacks. The old man's house was, miraculously, perfectly intact.

The old man opened the door to his house, looking pleased. "Good, now we won't have to deal with that problem..." he smiled. "Please, come in. We have much to discuss..."

With that, he walked back inside, leaving the door ajar. Mark looked at the others. Kai shrugged. Kurt nodded. They turned as a team, and walked into the house.


	7. Crests of Confusion

Crests of Confusion

Shadow- "Bad news, readers. I'll be going away for spring break, and won't be able to post any more chapters until late next week."

Renamon- "Where're you going?"

Shadow- "To the magical land of "Lack-of computers-town"."

Renamon- "..."

Shadow- "Oh, and since I can't reply directly to your review, chaos: you've got the idea... nothing in my stories is ever as it seems..."

Renamon- "Again, creepy. Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "Now go and review!"

* * *

**digital world, forest sanctuary, Serenity's POV**

Serenity followed the others into the old man's hut. Before her was nothing but darkness, the only light cast by the open door behind her. She couldn't see anything inside.

She heard a creak, and whirled around. The door swung shut. After a ominous click, the entire world was plunged into infinite darkness.

She heard the old man mutter. "Relax, just hold on a second... the switch is right-"

Serenity half cried out as a blinding flash of light slashed into her eyes. After a moment, she squinted her eyes open, blinking back tears.

In front of her, where the door had been, lay a vast expanse of ocean. The blinding light was the ruby and gold light of a setting sun in front of her. She heard the waves faintly lapping, smelled brine on the air, and felt the breeze caressing her cheeks. _Okay... this is not possible..._

She reached out in front of her, and her hand touched something solid. The door faded into view, floating a few inches off the ground. She reached around to the side of it, and found that her hand could pass right through where the wall should have been. She felt something brush her feet and looked down to see the waves lapping under the bottom of the door. She stepped back hurriedly to keep her feet dry, and bumped into the others.

She turned around, and saw the others staring a small white structure, and the old man standing in front of it. The island of sand on which they stood was very small, only a few hundred square feet. The island was bare, and she could see the ocean all around them, colored crimson by the sun.

The old man smiled at their awe. "This place is digital, you know. Anything can happen."

He turned around, and walked into the white structure.

Mark looked at Serenity and the others. He shrugged. "Might as well..." he muttered, and followed the man inside.

Serenity and the others followed him.

Inside the structure, the man was standing next to the entrance. "Please, just stand over there." he said, pointing to a blank wall.

Serenity and the others walked over to the wall, and stood there, backs facing the blank wall. Their digimon waited at the entrance.

The old man walked down the line, surveying first Krystal, then Kai, and then Serenity. When he got to Mark, he stared for a moment at the goggles around Mark's neck. He grabbed them, and replaced them on Mark's forehead. "That's better..."

He also looked at Kurt for a moment, before nodding. "You can all sit down," he said, gesturing at a table with ten seats. Everyone and their digimon sat down.

The old man cleared his throat. "Now then... my name is Libellus. As I said before, I am made entirely of data, as are your digimon partners. In this world, you are also made entirely of data... and just as susceptible to damage as was the Megadramon that you destroyed."

Krystal shivered slightly, but remained silent.

"Now then... I don't have the time to discuss how the entire world works, but I will tell you enough. For the last 1000 years or so, an evil digimon has controlled our world. This digimon has constantly been shrouded by darkness, so no one knows what exactly he is. He has subjugated our world thoroughly, and since his level is so high, we have been unable to free ourselves."

"That is why we brought you here; to use your digimon to free us from this menace." Libellus stopped speaking. After a moment, Kai raised his hand. "Yes?" Libellus said.

"Um... that 'Megadra-thingy' that we beat..." Kai said. "...I'm assuming that that digimon was not the evil thing?"

"Correct..."

"Then how the hell are we gonna beat that thing's leader?!" Kai yelled. "We nearly got killed fighting that thing!"

Libellus smiled. "Yes, I was just getting to that. Your digimon partners have the ability to digivolve through your digivice, because the digivice channels part of your nature through to the digimon. However, most peoples' natures are only strong enough to result in a champion evolution. This is why I have brought the crests for you..." he said, pulling out a series of necklaces, "That will fully bring out your strongest qualities, and allow your digimon to fully evolve. Normally, I would have you find them on your own, but it seems that the enemy is taking no chances..."

The old man shook his head. "Sending out an ultimate to fight new arrivals... insane..."

"It's pretty smart, though." Kurt said. "Trying to make sure we don't become a bigger threat..."

Libellus nodded. "Unfortunately, you're correct. That is why I am giving you your crests now. Mark, your crest is Friendship, Kai, yours is Sincerity, Kurt, your is Hope, Krystal, yours is Courage, and Serenity, yours is Love."

He handed each crest to its respective owner. Serenity blinked at the pink heart on the pendant. "This thing... is supposed to be my inner self?"

Libellus nodded. "Yes."

Kai voiced Serenity's opinion. "Bullshit."

Libellus looked surprised. "What? But-"

"Courage? Me?" Krystal whispered. "You've got to be joking... are you sure you didn't get Serenity's and mine mixed up?"

"See for yourself." Libellus answered.

Serenity blinked in surprise as her crest lit up with a soft pink light. She looked up, and saw Mark, Kai, and Krystal staring into their lit up crests. Kurt's stayed dark.

"Hold on a sec..." he said, and smacked the crest against the table a few times. The pendant finally lit up. He shrugged. "Electronics never liked me..."

Libellus nodded. "Good. Now that you have your crests, you're all set."

"Whoa, hold on a second..." Serenity said. "We don't know where we are, where we're supposed to be going... or how to use these stupid things."

"I'm afraid that this is all I'm allowed to tell you." Libellus answered. "The rest is for you to figure out."

Serenity started to answer, but was cut off as the chair, and then the floor, below her vanished. She plummeted downward into darkness, followed closely by the others.


	8. Anything Can Happen

Anything Can Happen

Shadow- "I'm back!"

Renamon- "From where?"

Shadow- "My vacation to the land of snow and ice!"

Renamon- "Canada?"

Shadow- "...that's actually pretty close..."

Renamon- "...o...kay... anyways, Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "Holy crap, lots of reviews! Keep it up, everyone!"

* * *

**digital world, stony village, Krystal's POV**

Darkness. Nothing but darkness.

Krystal groaned softly. _What just happened? That guy was talking to us, and next thing I know-_

She gritted her teeth as a wave of pain washed over her. _-we were falling... ow..._

She heard something talking faintly. She slowly opened her eyes.

She was laying flat on the ground, looking up at the stars in the night sky. _Well, at least I know when it is... _she thought as she slowly sat up, expecting another wave of pain.

Strangely, though, she didn't feel anything. She looked herself over, but everything looked fine. She looked up, and took stock of her surroundings.

In front of her, only a few feet away, was a slowly crackling fire. She saw the others lying on the ground near her. A collection of small wooden huts surrounded them. Over near one of the doors stood two digimon, watching her.

Krystal got to her feet, looking pointedly at the two digimon. One of them walked closer to her, coming within the circle of firelight.

The digimon stood at waist height, and looked like it was made entirely of rocks. Actually, it was made entirely of rocks. _What the heck?_ Krystal wondered, before remembering what the old man had said.

_Anything can happen, huh? You weren't kidding..._

"Um..." Krystal said softly, "...where are we?"

The small digimon nodded slightly. "Good, you're alive... we were concerned you weren't going to make it... it's not every day we have visitors fall from the sky."

"Yeah, great, now where- ...wait, fall from the sky?"

The digimon nodded again. "Yes. We assumed you fell from one of the dragons." the little digimon looked up at her hopefully. "...didn't you?"

Krystal blinked. "Um... dragons? No, we just sorta... fell."

The little digimon looked perplexed. "How?"

"Um..." Krystal was saved from answering by one of the others groaning faintly.

The little rock digimon tiptoed over to see who it was. Krystal sighed, and sat down. She watched as the digimon tried to get Kurt fully awake. She smiled slightly. _Well, at least he's all right..._

She looked around again. Nothing outside of the firelight was moving. She realized that this was the first time she'd had to stop and think about what was going on. _So... why the heck can't I stop thinking about school?_

Krystal remembered that two kids _-Mark and Kurt-_ she reminded herself, had been staring at her during lunch. She felt her heart skip. _No, not at you! At your group!_ This thought didn't calm her down.

Her eyes strayed to Kurt, now sitting, talking to the rock digimon, and Mark, still passed out. _...I wonder which one likes me? Or if both do? _She shook her head. _No, shut up! No one..._

Krystal looked over at her friend Serenity, just waking up. _Probably looking at her..._

She sighed, lost in depression for a moment. She felt someone shaking her shoulder lightly. She looked up, and saw her friend, Serenity there. Serenity smiled. "Hey, you okay, Krystal?"

Krystal smiled faintly. "Y-yeah..." She looked over at Kurt again.

Serenity misinterpreted her gaze. "Yeah, that was pretty close... we're lucky we're still alive..." She chuckled slightly. "Still, here we are. I just wish I knew what that old idiot was thinking about..."

Krystal snapped out of it. "Huh?"

Serenity sighed. "You weren't even listening, were you? That old guy, Libellus? The crest guy? Remember him?"

Krystal's hand went to her neck, and found the crest of Courage still hanging there. "Yeah..."

Someone's voice ended the conversation. Both girls turned and saw that the other three were awake, and talking as well. Mark looked up, and saw the two girls. "Good, we're all awake... now, little... um, what's you're name?" he asked the rock digimon.

"I'm a Gotsumon!" Krystal heard. She suddenly realized that she didn't want to be here right now. She just wanted to go off and think for a while.

She stood up, just as Kurt did the same. The two teens looked at each other in surprise. The Gotsumon stopped talking.

Krystal felt flustered. "Um... I was just gonna go for a walk..."

Kurt nodded. "Yeah... so was I..."

Kurt started to walk away from the fire. On an impulse, Krystal started following him.

"Hey, what're you doing?" Serenity called after her.

"I'll be just a minute, okay?" Krystal called back.

She hurried up, and caught up to Kurt. They walked past the edge of the houses, to the edge of the forest.

"Hey..." she finally said, looking over at him.

"Um... I was... I kinda wanted to walk by myself..." Kurt said, avoiding her eyes.

Krystal blushed faintly. "Well, can I join you?" _Damn it, what are you doing?_ She asked herself.

"Umm... okay, I guess..." Krystal saw his cheeks flush in the half-light. He still didn't look her in the eyes.

Krystal felt something catch in her throat. Before she could even think about it, she reached over and grabbed him lightly under the chin. She turned his face towards her, and slowly brushed her lips against his. She felt like she couldn't breath, something was hurting faintly inside, but it felt good, too. She felt the kiss lengthen as he slowly reciprocated.

She felt her heart skip a beat, as the warmth from the kiss and from her heart spread over her, turning her cheeks crimson. She felt her crest warm a bit, as well.

She finally drew back slightly. She looked into Kurt's brilliant sapphire eyes for a moment, before he leaned forward and kissed her, wrapping his arm lightly around her waist.

The old man's words fluttered through her head again. Krystal smiled inwardly as her lips pressed against Kurt's.

_Anything can happen, huh? You weren't kidding..._


	9. Night’s Rest

Night's Rest

Shadow- "...um... how many reviews has this story gotten, now?"

Renamon- "More than any of your others... maybe you're getting better at writing?"

Shadow- "...maybe... or maybe I'm getting better at writing a blurb to catch peoples' attention..."

Renamon- "...can't take a compliment... well, Shadow does not onw digimon..."

Shadow- "Please leave a review..."

* * *

**digital world, stony village, Mark's POV**

Mark watched his friend Kurt walk off, followed closely by Krystal. He shook his head, and turned back to the rock digimon. "So... you said your name is Gotsumon?"

The little digimon nodded. "Yep!"

"Um... okay... so, where are we?"

"You're in the Stony Village!" the digimon replied. "And... are you humans?"

Mark nodded.

The little digimon smiled. "Oh boy! Dad! They're humans!"

A slightly taller digimon enter the ring of firelight. "Don't get too excited. It's not like you've never seen their kind before..."

"You've seen humans before?" Autamon asked. "When?"

"Oh, it couldn't have been that long ago... a few years ago, perhaps..."

"What were they doing?" Kai asked.

"They were looking," the younger Gotsumon answered, "for the evil that is destroying our land!"

The older Gotsumon snorted. "And what happened? Nothing. There was a few explosions on the top of the mountain. Then nothing, till now. The idiots probably got themselves killed... no remorse for them, but too bad about their digimon..."

There was silence for a moment. "Umm..." said Mark. _Crap, that's not good... okay, change the subject before he depresses the others... _"okay, why's this place called 'Stony Village'? All I see is wood."

The Gotsumon snorted. "We used to have houses made of stone. Best stone around, quarried up from the valley... until those dragons started flying over us..."

"What dragons?" Serenity asked.

"These big black things flying up there... no idea what they do, except that they occasionally come down here and torch our homes, just for fun..."

"Jeez..." Serenity whispered. "Can't you do anything?"

The two rock digimon shook their heads. "Nope. Too strong for us..."

"Well... maybe we can help you!" Mark said.

The older Gotsumon sighed. "I fiigured you'd say that... and let me guess... in return, you want me to show you how to get to the evil digimon..."

"Um... yeah, something like that..."

The digimon nodded. "Fine. Come tomorrow, we'll get a few down here, and then you can destroy them."

Without another word, the older Gotsumon turned and walked away.

Mark sighed. _Doesn't like to talk much, does he?_

The younger Gotsumon smiled. "Yay! Go digidestined!" he then ran off after his father.

Serenity sighed. "I hope we can help them..."

Kai shook his head. "We should just find this evil digimon if you really want to help him. He's probably the one sending those dragons out..."

Krystal and Kurt walked back into the firelight. Mark noticed they were both blushing lightly. "Hey, um... what's going on?" Krystal asked.

As Serenity took her aside to tell her what had happened, Mark walked up to Kurt. "Hey Kurt... I take it you got lucky with her?"

Kurt blushed, and grinned slightly. Mark nodded. _I'll take that as a yes..._

**digital world, stony village, Mark's POV**

After a long night's rest, the digidestined were getting ready to fight the dragon that the Gotsumon would attract. Mark looked over at the younger Gotsumon. "So... when do they get here?"

The young digimon continued looking up. "They sure be here right about... There!"

Mark looked up, and saw four black outlines fly up from the nearby forest, and start to fly over the village.

The older Gotsumon stood up. "Get ready, humans..." he looked back up at the dragons. After a moment, he yelled "Rock Fist!" and threw a large rock into the air.

The attack missed the dragons, but got their attention. One dragon completely ignored them, but three of the dragons flew down. They were big. They were scary. And they looked stronger than Megadramon. Mark sighed. _Damn it..._

One of the dragons grinned. "We were going to spare your village for now... but it looks like we get to have fun a little sooner than expected!"

With that, he spat a ball of fire at them, followed closely by his two companions. Mark and the others took out their digivices. Mark grinned. _Okay then, let's kick some ass!_


	10. Still

Still

Shadow- "Wow. Still have a lot of readers. And reviewers. Keep it up, people!" (Unless you aren't a person... in which case I want to know how you're operating a computer...)

Renamon- "...okay... Shadow does not own Digimon. Everything else in this story is his."

Shadow- "Please leave a review!"

* * *

**digital world, stony village, Serenity's POV**

Serenity stared up at the three dragons above them. _Great idea, Mark. Piss off the only things here that might try to kill us..._

One of the dragons yelled something at them, but Serenity looked at her digivice instead of listening to the macho banter. Her digivice read:

XEDRAMON

LEVEL: ULTIMATE

TYPE: VIRUS

ATTACKS: DEADLY IMPACT, DARKNESS WINGS

SPECIAL ABILITY: ATOMIZATION

She looked back up in time to hear one of the dragons yell "Deadly Impact!" and see a ball of deep violet flames hurtle at them. She felt her digivice light up.

DIGIVOLUTION

"Lacertamon digivolve to... Besermon!"

"Passimon digivolve to... Meflimon!"

"Autamon digivolve to... Rimsaeramon!"

"Sevramon digivolve to... Slanemon!"

"Overshield!" Slanemon yelled, as the familiar bubble of safety surrounded them. Slanemon relaxed once the fire dissipated, and the shield dropped.

Serenity gasped as two of the enemy digimon were revealed, right on top of them. One of them grinned. "You didn't seriously think that would work twice, did you? Atomization!"

A burst of white light sizzled from the digimon's mouth. Serenity raised her arms to cover her face.

She felt everything pause for a moment, then stumbled as the ground beneath her suddenly changed. She regained her balance, and looked around.

She and the other four digidestined had been transported about ten feet to their left. Daxemon lay at their feet, gasping for breath. The other four digimon were missing.

Daxemon looked up at Kurt. "Sorry... I could only transport you five before the time ran out..."

Serenity looked again. "No..." she whispered. Autamon lay next to the other three digimon at the end of a smoking crater, laying in the rubble of one of the houses, not moving. "Autamon!"

She ran forward to help her digimon. The third Xedramon dropped down between her and her digimon. It grinned. "Deadly Impact!"

Serenity took a half step back and tripped. She felt the heat of the flames wash over her. She also saw both her rookie digimon and Sevramon jump between her and the attack. She heard Krystal yell something as she screamed "Autamon!"

CREST DIGIVOLUTION

"Autamon crest digivolve to... Auratemon!"

"Sevramon crest digivolve to... Tisonermon!"

"Hypershield!" the heat suddenly vanished. Serenity looked up to see her little Autamon had digivolved into a giant red hawk, twice her size, with a green plate metal helmet on. Next to him sat Tisonermon, a golden fox with five tails, with turquoise slash marks tracing lines across her back.

The shield vanished along with the attack, as the Xedramon in front of them gulped. "Hey, uh... I didn't mean anything by it! You know, uh, just following orders, right?" it grinned hopefully.

"I don't think so." Auratemon growled. "Gale Force Blade!"

The dragon sighed. "Ah, well, worth a shot..." before screaming as the attack deleted him. The data started to drift up into the air, but then paused, and drifted towards the other two Xedramon. The data melded with them, and the two digimon began to glow faintly. Both dragons grinned. "Our brother's sacrifice has granted us the power necessary to defeat you!"

"Not likely." Tisonermon replied.

The four digimon stared at each other for a moment, sizing each other up. One of the dragons abruptly turned towards the other four digidestined. "Darkness Wings!"

Lacertamon and Passimon jumped in between their partners and the attack. "I don't think so!" Lacertamon yelled as both digimon were bathed in light.

CREST DIGIVOLUTION

"Lacertamon crest digivolve to... Steelbesermon!"

"Passimon crest digivolve to... Megameflimon!"

The now-metal covered Steelbesermon blocked the attack, causing his steel plates to ring like a gong. Megameflimon ruffled its tangerine feathers. "This should be fun..."

The two Xedramon found themselves outnumbered by four ultimates. "Shit..." one of them whispered. "What do we do now?"

"Simple..." the other one answered, before jumping up into the air. "Run like hell!"

Its companion stood frozen on the ground for a moment. It looked at the four digimon it now faced alone. "That son of a bitch!"

Steelbesermon grinned. "Now, to finish this... Metallic Flare!"

The other three also attacked. "Beak Crusher!" "Hyper Slash!" "Kitsune Eternia!"

The last Xedramon screamed as the attacks engulfed him, destroying him utterly... and also flattening half the village.

"Yeah!" Mark yelled. "We did it!"

Serenity took a deep breath, and exhaled. She saw Kai walk over to her. "Hey, you okay?"

"I think so-" she said as she stumbled and started falling. Kai reached out and caught her. Serenity found herself being held close to Kai, supported solely by his arms, their faces close. Serenity felt her heart skip a beat. Kai blushed. "Um..."

Before Kai could finish the sentence, a commotion over with the others caught their attention. Glad for the interruption, Serenity got to her feet and looked over. The older Gotsumon was yelling at Mark.

"You destroyed our village! We'd have been better off if we'd just let them vent their frustrations!"

Kurt tried to calm the angry rock digimon. "Woah, hey, it's okay! We'll help you rebuild!"

"Like hell you will!" the diminutive digimon threw a rock a Kurt. It smashed into his upper arm, tearing the sleeve and drawing blood. Kurt grabbed his arm, and cursed.

"I want all of out of my village. Now!" when nobody moved, the digimon started throwing rocks at everyone. "Now, damn it!"

Serenity hurried to get as far away from the little digimon as possible. Mark stayed long enough to ask "Where's the leader of the evil digimon?"

"Up the mountain..." the Gotsumon replied. "Now go!"

As they left the village, Serenity saw Krystal pull a bandana out of her pocket. She wrapped it around Kurt's wounded arm. He smiled at her, and they kissed lightly.

Serenity blushed, and pretended she hadn't seen anything. She looked over at Kai. _I wish-_ Serenity bit her tongue. _No, damn it! No weaknesses. Don't get involved._

She continued looking at Kai as they left the village, heading for the snow-capped mountain that towered on the horizon. _Still..._ She sighed, and focused on the road ahead.


	11. Reflections

Reflections

Shadow- "Sorry for the later than usual update... crew races apparently don't have computers nearby..."

Renamon- "Oh, is that where you were?"

Shadow- "Yeah... anyways, on the story, we've reached the part of my story where you'll either hate me or love me. (I do this sorta thing a lot...)."

Renamon- "...Shadow does not own digimon. All of the crazy stories, on the other hand, Shadow does own."

Shadow- "Please leave a review!"

* * *

**digital world, stony village, Kai's POV**

Kai reluctantly left the village with Mark and the others. He looked over at Krystal and Kurt, talking quietly together._ Damn it... why is it that other guys get to have a girlfriend, but I don't?_

He thought back to the village, when he was holding Serenity after the battle. _And that stupid little Gotsumon had to ruin that... damn it..._

He felt someone staring at him. He looked over his shoulder, and caught Serenity staring at him. She blushed, and pretended that she had been looking at something else. _And what the hell is she getting bashful for? _

Kai shook his head, and increased his pace to catch up with Mark. "Hey, kid..." he said. Mark looked back, but kept walking. "...do you even know where we're going?"

"Where the Gotsumon said." Mark replied. "Up the mountain."

Kai sighed. _Not the brightest bulb ever..._ "Yes, but where? A mountain's a pretty big place. Did he specify anything?"

Mark blinked. "Um... no... he just said it's up the mountain..."

"So, basically, we have no idea what we're doing..." Kai said. "That's just great..."

Mark started to reply, but tripped over something and fell down. Kai looked down, and realized that snow suddenly started covering the ground. It formed a perfect line across the same height of ground on both sides of them. "The hell?" Mark said, getting to his feet, and brushing the snow off his shirt.

"That's... weird..." Krystal said. Kurt whispered something to her, and she giggled.

Kai sighed. "Whatever..." _At least I'm wearing a jacket..._

Lacertamon shuddered, avoiding the snow. "...I don't like this... you know, cold and reptiles don't mix well..."

Mark groaned. "Well, what the hell and we supposed to do about that?"

"You could carry me..." Lacertamon said hopefully.

Mark snorted. "You've got to be kidding me! How much do you weigh?!"

"I could digivolve, and make myself invisible..." Lacertamon replied. "You wouldn't even know I was there!"

"Weight and visibility are two different things, you idiot." Serenity said.

Mark shrugged. "Still, it's worth a shot..." he took out his digivice. "Okay... digivolve!"

Nothing happened.

Kai laughed. Mark frowned. He looked at the digivice, and pressed a few buttons.

Nothing happened.

"Come on! Work! Digivolve!" Mark yelled. "Do sometihng!" he threw the digivice into the snow. The device beeped once, then started playing the Canadian national anthem.

Mark blinked. "What the hell is that?"

Kai sighed. "It's Canada's anthem." Mark stared at him. "Canada has an anthem?"

"How do you even know what it is?" Serenity asked.

Kai sighed. "I have family up in Canada. We visit every so often. They like going to hockey games, and they always play it there..." he trailed off when he saw the others staring at him. "...what?"

Mark coughed. "Um... right... can we just keep moving?"

"But what about the snow?" Lacertamon whined.

Serenity shook her head. "Just deal with it!" she walked off into the snow.

The others paused for a moment, then followed her. Lacertamon took a few tentative steps onto the snow, whimpered, then hurried after them.

A little while later, Kai shivered once. _...why did I just shiver? It's not that cold out..._

He looked over at the others. Mark was shivering badly. Kurt and Krystal were huddled close. Serenity was trying to act tough, but her teeth were still chattering.

He shivered again. _Then again, maybe it is that cold..._

Kurt looked up. "Hey, what's that up there?"

Kai looked farther up the mountain, where Kurt was looking. Further up the mountain, on their right, was a dark spot on the slope. "What's that?" Mark asked.

"Looks like a cave." Kurt said. "It's probably what the Gotsumon was talking about..."

Mark nodded. "Yeah... well, come on! Let's hurry up!"

Lacertamon moaned. "I think my toes have frostbite..."

"You don't have toes." Kai pointed out. "You just have claws."

"Well then my claws are frostbitten."

Krystal looked at him. "...is that even possible?"

Kai sighed. "I don't know... let's just get to that stupid cave..."

"But my claws!"

"Look, I'm sure it's warmer in the cave, okay?" Kai said.

"Yay!" Lacertamon took off running for the cave. The others trudged after him.

Serenity looked over at Kai. "...do you really think it will be warmer in the cave?"

"No..." Kai admitted. "But it got him moving, didn't it?"

Serenity smiled, and started to say something, but was interrupted by Mark yelling after his digimon. "Hey, wait till we get there before going inside!"

Lacertamon promptly disappeared inside the cave.

"Damn it..."Mark muttered, and ran up to the cave mouth. Kai and the others hurried after him.

Kai ran up over the mouth of the cave and slipped inside. He stared at the inside of the cave. _Well, that's unexpected..._

Despite its small entrance, the cave was surprisingly large inside. A fleet of school buses could have easily parked inside it. The entire cave was made of polished ice, so perfectly smooth that Kai could see an exact reflection of himself in the floor.

Mark grinned at his reflection. "Hey, handsome..." Kurt slipped out of Krystal's arms, and hung back by the entrance, next to his digimon. Serenity and Krystal walked a bit farther into the cave.

Lacertamon looked sad. "It's not warm in here..."

Mark shook his head. "...and it doesn't look like much of a hideout, either..."

"Are you sure?" Kurt murmured.

On the far side of the room, the ice parted, revealing a series of metal steps descending downward.

Mark laughed. "That's great!" he looked back at Kurt. "Hey, how'd you know that-" he suddenly froze.

Kai looked back. Kurt was still standing there next to his digimon, smiling. "What?" Kai asked.

Krystal gasped. "The reflection!"

Kai looked down. While everyone else's reflection was perfect, Kurt's reflection was not of him, but of a large sliver and black fox with nine tails, each tipped with velvet fire. Both Kurt and the fox reflection grinned.

"Now then... Lefimon, if you please?" Kurt said, and new tone of command filling his voice.

His digimon of surrounded by light for a moment, then digivolved into a pale blue angel with black wings. Kai looked at his digivice.

LEFIMON

LEVEL: ULTIMATE

TYPE: VIRUS

ATTACKS: LIGHT CLAW, THUNDER WINGS

SPECIAL ABILITY: TIME FREEZE

Krystal looked scared. "Kurt? What are you doing?"

Kurt chuckled as the entrance to the cave sealed behind him. "Doing what I've been doing the entire time... leading you here, trying to take over the digital world..."

Kurt suddenly seemed to melt, change, and then he was shaped exactly like his reflection, a giant nine-tailed fox.

Nobody said anything. Everyone was too shocked. Krystal finally managed to whisper "...Kurt...?"

The fox grinned. It spoke, its voice slightly deeper. "You never knew Kurt. The entire time you've been in the digital world, it's just been me."


	12. Love and Betrayal

Love and Betrayal

Shadow- "Yay! Another chapter! And somebody else favorited the story!"

Renamon- "...okay... so what?"

Shadow- "So... that means they really really like it! (HINT HINT!)"

Renamon- "Wow. That wasn't obvious or anything. (/endsarcasm)"

Shadow- "Oh yeah? Well, (/genocide)!"

Renamon- "...WHAT?!"

Shadow- "You heard me."

Renamon- "... I'm gonna leave now... Shadow does not own digimon..."

Shadow- "Please leave a review! With the exception of digi-writer1392, you've been slacking off..."

* * *

**digital world, kumihomon's lair, Serenity's POV**

Serenity stared at Kurt's true form. She glanced down at her digivice as the fox's data scrolled across it.

KUMIHOMON

LEVEL: MEGA

TYPE: DATA

ATTACKS: KUMIHO LIGHTNING, THOUSAND YEAR INFERNO

SPECIAL ABILITY: TRANSFORM

Serenity looked up at the fox digimon._ What the hell is going on?_

Mark growled. "What did you do to Kurt?!"

The fox who had been Kurt smiled. "Oh, he's resting comfortably... but that's not what I want to talk about."

"Give him back!" Krystal yelled.

The sighed. "Let me say it again, Krystal: You never knew Kurt. I intercepted him when he first entered the digital world, and I transformed into an exact likeness of him. My second-in-command, Lefimon, captured his digimon, and de-digivolved to pretend to be my partner digimon. You understand now?"

"Wait... he was never with us?" Krystal said. "...then..." she clasped her hand to her mouth.

Kumihomon sighed. "Yes, Krystal, it was me who you fell in love with. And kissed."

Krystal turned pale, and started to back away from the fox digimon. He sighed. "Listen, Krystal, you really fell in love with me. You weren't tricked, or anything." Kumihomon smiled faintly. "Actually, I was trying to avoid it... but, when you kissed me in the forest... I... fell in love with you too..."

Krystal stumbled slightly. She whispered "...get... away from me..."

The digimon shook his head. "What, you don't like foxes? Fine." He transformed back into Kurt. "This better?"

Krystal whimpered. "G-get... away..."

The fake Kurt sighed. "Fine then..." in an instant, he morphed into a giant scarlet bird. "I guess you'll just have to get used to me... because I love you now... and I don't want to be without you..."

The giant bird form whisked forward, and grabbed Krystal. Her digimon, Sevramon, tried to stop him, but the bird wheeled around, and flew out the now-half open entrance. Then doors re-sealed behind him.

Sevramon started to follow, but Lefimon blocked the door. "My master Kumihomon has told me to not let you leave." Electricity sparked from the angel digimon's fingers. "Don't make me destroy you..."

"Get the hell out of the way!" Mark yelled.

Lefimon smiled. "No."

"Then we'll just have to take you down!" Serenity yelled, her digivice glowing.

DIGIVOLUTION

"Lacertamon digivolve to... Besermon!"

"Passimon digivolve to... Meflimon!"

"Autamon digivolve to... Rimsaeramon!"

The three campions stood next to Sevramon. The little fox digimon growled. "I might not be able to digivolve without Krystal, but I can still take you down! Kitsune Yomeiri!"

The fire shot at Lefimon. The angel laughed, and swept the attack aside. "Don't trifle with me, little one. You're out of your league! Thunder Wings!"

Twin bolts of lightning slammed into Sevramon, sending her flying backward with a yelp of pain. The little fox smashed into the opposite wall, cracking the ice, then fell to the ground, not moving.

"Damn you!" Besermon yelled. "You'll pay for that! Flare Blaster!"

"Light Claw!" Lefimon yelled, and the room was filled with brilliance for a moment. Serenity shielded her eyes. When she could open them again, she saw the three digimon laying on the ground, rookies again.

Lacertamon growled. "Damn it... he's too strong!"

"Then we'll just have to digivolve again!" Passimon yelled.

CREST DIGIVOLUTION

"Lacertamon crest digivolve to... Steelbesermon!"

"Passimon crest digivolve to... Megameflimon!"

"Autamon crest digivolve to... Auratemon!"

"Metallic Flare!" "Beak Crusher!" "Gale Force Blade!" The three attacks shot at Lefimon.

"You really didn't learn anything, did you?" Lefimon chuckled. "Time Freeze!"

The air wavered for a moment, then Lefimon was gone, the attacks smashing into the wall. The three ultimate digimon fell to their knees. Serenity looked around, and finally saw Lefimon, standing beside Sevramon at the back wall.

"Come on!" The angel digimon said. "I can freeze time! Your attacks are utterly useless!" He put his foot down on Sevramon's neck, eliciting a cry from the fox digimon. "Now, you will be the first to go."

"No, damn it..." Auratemon groaned. "Teleport!"

The bird digimon vanished. Lefimon blinked in surprise. "Where-"

"Hyper Slash!" Lefimon cried out as the attack slammed into his back, making him stumble, freeing Sevramon. He turned around, and growled and the grinning bird. "Yeah, real hero-like. Attacking my back!"

He took a swipe at the digimon, but Auratemon teleported away. He turned around, and saw that the bird digimon had teleported back next to Megameflimon. And just Megameflimon.

"Where's..." Lefimon said, then groaned. "Crap... I see where this is going..."

The air behind him shimmered. "Steel Sabre!" The metallic blade slashed Lefimon. "Damn it!" the angel yelled, turning around to find only empty air. "Show yourself!"

"Okay." Steelbesermon appeared right in front of Lefimon's nose. The angel digimon jumped slightly in surprise, then flapped his wings and took off into the middle of the room. "Okay! That's enough!"

Megameflimon flew up behind Lefimon. "Almost enough... Beak Crusher!"

Lefimon cried out again as he was thrown to the floor. He slid across the icy ground, and finally crunched to a stop against a wall. His form started to spark with static. He tried to get up once, and failed. "Damn it... Kumihomon's not gonna like this..." He shifted himself against the wall. He laughed. "I couldn't even get one of you..."

"Where's Kurt?!" Mark yelled.

The angel digimon chuckled weakly. "Not that it'll do you any good, but he's in a holding tank farther into the complex..." he waved his hand in the direction of the back of the room. The ice parted to reveal to series of steel steps leading further down into the mountain. "Now just leave me to die..."

Kai sighed. "I wish this didn't have to happen..."

"Yeah right...Lefimon grimaced. "Like you can say that to the digimon you've just killed and mean it..." his data finally lost integrity, and drifted apart.

The three ultimate digimon de-digivolved. After checking to make sure Sevramon was okay, Serenity sighed. "Well, now what?"

"We need to rescue Kurt." Mark said, steely determination in his voice. "He's my friend, and I'm not leaving here without him."

Serenity nodded. "Yeah. And then we can go and rescue Krystal."

Kai also nodded. "It's decided then." he looked over at the stairs leading into the complex. "Let's get going."

Serenity, along with Mark, Kai, and the four digimon, walked over to the stairs, and began the long walk down into the darkness.


	13. Revival

Revival

Shadow- "As we were driving home today, my mom saw a penguin."

Renamon- "What? Really?"

Shadow- "Well, she thought it was a penguin. It was actually an orange cat."

Renamon- "...WHAT?!"

Shadow- "Yeah, I know... I have very strange people in my life..."

Renamon- "So do I... Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "Please leave a review!"

* * *

**digital world, kumihomon's lair, Mark's POV**

"Ow! Damn it!" Mark yelled, holding his shin. "Why can't bad guys ever put lights in their hideouts?!"

"Get used to it." the half-lit form of Kai said. "We've still got a ways to go."

Mark growled. "And how the hell do you know that?!"

In response, Kai chipped a bit of ice off the wall, and dropped it over the side of the stairs. After a few seconds of hearing nothing, Kai said "That's how."

Mark sighed. _Why can't things ever be easy?_

"Hey... guys?" came Serenity's voice from the flight of stairs above them. "I think you'd better come see this."

Mark clambered back up to where Serenity stood. She was leaning against the wall, peering through a small window. Mark edged her aside.

Inside the room stood rows and rows of metal cylinders with glass fronts. Inside a few of them were humans and digimon, alternating sequentially. "Holy crap..." Mark whispered. "When that Gotsumon in the village said that there'd been humans before us, he wasn't kidding..."

Serenity nodded. "Yeah, but look at the one on the end."

Mark looked over, and saw another metal canister. With Kurt inside it. "Hey!" Mark yelled. "There he is!"

Serenity pushed him away from the window. "Now, we just need to find the door..."

"Why?" Lacertamon asked.

Serenity sighed. "Because we need to get in there, you little idiot!"

"Then why not just do this? Flareball!" The attack melted through the icy wall, leaving the metal and glass window suspended for a moment, before clattering to the ground.

Serenity looked over at the little digimon. "I take that back. You might be helpful after all..."

"Well, come on!" Mark yelled, and ran up to the canister that contained Kurt. He looked over the piece of machinery. Along the side of the container ran a series of blinking lights, all green. Below the lights was a small screen, and a keypad.

Mark tapped a few keys, and a message lit up the screen, asking for a password. "Well, that's helpful... what do you think it is?"

"Try 'This is not the password'."Serenity suggested.

_Well, that's... inventive... _Aloud, Mark said "I... don't think that's it."

Serenity snorted. "Well, that's what I would've put..."

"It's gotta be something obvious..." Kai said. "What exactly do we know about Kumihomon?"

"Um... he's a fox... he can transform..." Mark said.

"Try 'the amazing morphing fox'!" Lacertamon yelled.

Serenity growled. "Forget what I said earlier... you are a class-A idiot."

"How exactly is that better than your suggestion?" Mark asked indignantly.

"Would you all just shut up?!" Kai yelled, surprising Mark. "Listen... what does he care about the most?"

Mark blinked. _Care about? He's a bad guy. Who cares what he cares about?_

When nobody answered, Kai sighed. "Let me re-phrase that. Who did he just kidnap?"

"Oh! Krystal!" Serenity said, finally catching on.

Kai nodded. "Try it."

Mark tapped 'Krystal' into the small keypad. Immediately, a series of commands lit up on the screen. Mark tapped the one labeled 'Wake up cycle'.

The canister the Kurt was held in started to hum faintly. A series of freezing cold gases vented from the edges, until finally the glass front slid back, freeing Kurt.

Mark peeked inside. When Kurt didn't move, he poked his friend a few times. "Hey Kurt! Wake up!"

His friend's eyelids flickered for a moment, the he groaned faintly. "What th' heck..." he opened his eyes. "...Mark? What are you... where am I?"

Mark looked around. "Do you remember anything?"

Kurt shook his head. "Um... we were in the computer lab... then there was a flash of light... then I'm here." He shrugged. "Why? Did something happen?"

Mark sighed. "You have no idea..."

After filling Kurt in on what had happened, his friend sat on the lip of the cylinder, still in disbelief. "Wow... all that stuff really happened?"

Mark nodded. "Yeah..."

Kurt's eyes lit up. "Krystal likes me?"

Serenity laughed. "Apparently... although I'm not sure about her feeling now, because of Kumihomon."

Kurt growled. "I swear I'm gonna kill that thing..."

Kai sighed. "Yeah, great, kid. Now where's your digimon partner?"

"I'm assuming it's this thing here," Serenity said, banging on the front of the canister next to Kurt's, "Seeing as the one on his other side is empty."

Kurt looked at the digimon inside. "That's my digimon? It looks like a orange football with wings!"

Mark sighed. "Well, let's get him out..." he tapped in the seven letter code onto the side of the new canister. The lid popped open with a hiss, and after a moments pause, the little digimon hopped out. It looked up at Kurt then smiled. "Hi there! I'm a digimon, short for-"

"We know!" Mark yelled, along with the other three kids. "We've already been through the speech."

The little digimon looked crestfallen. "Aw..."

Mark looked at his digivice to get info on the digimon.

PATAMON

LEVEL: ROOKIE

TYPE: VACCINE

ATTACKS: BOOM BUBBLE, SLAMMING ATTACK

Kai nodded. "Good. Now, get we get going?"

"Well, hold on a minute..." Serenity said. "What about all the other kids here?"

Mark looked at the next canister in the row. A boy with medium length brown hair and glasses lay inside. His shirt and pants were ripped in several places, as if he had recently been through a hard battle. Mark checked the side panel. The lights along the side were all red, except for the top one, and when he tapped the key panel, the screen gave the message: ERROR CODE 15923-UDI. SUGGEST IMMEDIATE RECTIFICATION.

Mark shivered. "I don't think we want to open that one..."

He and the others checked the other containers with figures inside them, but all the lights were red. Serenity sighed. "...maybe we'd just better go..."

Kurt nodded. "Yeah... I"m anxious to see this 'digital world'."

Mark led the way back up the steps to the room where they had defeated Lefimon. Kurt stared at the spider-web cracks in the ice. "You guys really did all this?"

Mark nodded. "Yeah, now come on! We need to find out where Kumihomon went."

The group slid out of the damaged entrance doors, and stood in the ankle-deep snow, shivering. Mark looked around the ground, but didn't see any footprints. "Well, that's just great..."

"Hey, look down there!" Kai yelled. Mark looked, and saw a faint column of smoke rising out of the edge of the forest. "Is that Kumihomon?"

Serenity squinted. "No... it looks like the Gotsumon village we left..." her voice trailed off. "Oh no..."

Kai groaned. "That Xedramon must have come back with some friends..."

Mark looked around a second time, but still saw no sign of Kumihomon. "Well, we'd better get down there and help them out."

The group started picking their way down the snow covered mountain, knowing that they were just walking into another fight.


	14. It Takes a Xedramon to Raze a Village

It Takes a Xedramon to Raze a Village

Shadow- "Another chapter! And we're nearing the end of this story arc."

Renamon- "...I notice you said THIS story arc."

Shadow- "yeah, well... the next story after this will take some time to write. School pressure's picking back up, so... well, we'll see what happens."

Renamon- "Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "Please remember to leave a review!"

* * *

**digital world, central mountain, Kai's POV**

Kai followed Mark down the icy slope, half-running and half-sliding along with the others. _Damn it... those idiot Gotsumon are probably already dead..._

The group reached the edge of the snowline, and Kai stepped off onto solid ground. Lacertamon gave a small cheer. "Yippee! Warmth!"

A bolt of fire shot out of the sky and smacked into Lacertamon. The lizard digimon leapt back into the snow, yelling "Too warm! Too warm!" Kai looked up to face the attacker.

The Xedramon from earlier hovered up there, grinning. "About time you showed up! We've already torched the entire village! We were starting to get bored!"

Mark laughed. "We took you down once, and we can do it again!"

The Xedramon laughed. "Oh really? C'mon, Skully boy, get out here and show these kids what a 'hot-foot' really is!"

A large man-shaped creature wreathed in silver flames burst out of the forest. He was closely followed by several small orange dinosaur creatures. Kai looked down at his digivice as it displayed first the man-shaped digimon, then the dinosaurs.

SKULLMERAMON

LEVEL: ULTIMATE

TYPE: DATA

ATTACKS: METAL FIREBALL, FLAME CHAIN

SPECIAL ABILITY: FLARE PUMMEL

AGUMON

LEVEL: ROOKIE

TYPE: VACCINE

ATTACKS: PEPPER BREATH, CLAW ATTACK

Serenity grinned. "Boy, are you in for a surprise..."

CREST DIGIVOLUTION

"Lacertamon crest digivolve to... Steelbesermon!"

"Passimon crest digivolve to... Megameflimon!"

"Autamon crest digivolve to... Auratemon!"

The Agumon yelled "Pepper Breath!" and several balls of fire shot at the group. Steelbesermon swatted first the fireballs, then the Agumon aside. "Come on... give us a challenge!"

Xedramon growled. "You little... Darkness Wings!"

"Gale Force Blade!" Auratemon yelled, cancelling out Xedramon's attack.

The dark dragon growled. "Don't just stand there, Skullmeramon, destroy them!"

The Skullmeramon roared "Metal Fireball!"

"Metallic Flare!" Steelbesermon yelled, and the two silver balls of fire canceled each other out. Skullmeramon growled. "I will destroy you!"

"Gets right to the point, doesn't he?" Megameflimon said. "Well, so do we! Speed Dive!"

The sparrow's claws raked over Skullmeramon. "That's it!" yelled Kai.

Behind him, Kurt sighed. "Don't you feel kinda stupid?"

Kai looked back at him. "Why would I, kid?"

"You can't do anything! All we can do is sit here and... watch..." Kurt sighed. "And Patamon's useless anyways..."

"Well, have him digivolve then."

Kurt smiled, and shrugged. "Can't. No digivice. Kumihomon must have it..."

Kai snorted. "You're useless, you know that?" and turned back to the battle.

Kurt bit his lower lip, lost in thought.

Auratemon teleported behind Xedramon, and attacked. The black dragon cried out, and was thrown to the ground. Auratemon yelled "Hyper Slash!" and finished the dragon off.

The Skullmeramon looked around, finding itself suddenly without allies. It grinned. "Now I don't have to worry about collateral damage..."

Megameflimon grinned. "Collateral? That's a pretty big word for a skull-head."

Skullmeramon growled. "You'll be the first to die, meat! Flame Chain!"

Megameflimon sidestepped. "Ooh, I'm so scared. Look at the big-"

"Flare Pummel!" Fire shot up from the ground, surrounding Megameflimon. Kai tried to see through the flames, but only saw his digimon again when he was thrown out through the walls of fire. "Megameflimon!" Kai yelled, seeing his digimon's scorched feathers.

His digimon smiled weakly. "Hey... I'm all..." he de-digivolved back into Passimon. "...maybe not..."

Skullmeramon jumped through the flames, intent on smashing Passimon into the dust. "Get him!" Mark yelled.

"Metallic Flare!" "Gale Force Blade!" Skullmeramon was hit twice in midair, and was thrown back into the fire with a scream. After a moment, the fire disappeared, leaving no sign the digimon.

Mark sighed. "All right!" We did it!"

Serenity sighed, looking farther downslope. "Yeah, but the village..."

The village was nothing but smoking, charred remains. There was no sign of the Gotsumon.

Kai shook his head. "Damn it... we were too late..."

Kurt looked off towards the horizon. "Hey, is that another Xedramon?"

Kai looked up, and saw a column of smoke rising out of the forest, near the charred patch they had left before. He suddenly saw a giant bird swoop up out of the forest, and then back down. "No, that's Kumihomon!"

Kai looked over at Auratemon. "Can you fly us there?"

The bird digimon ruffled her feathers. "If I must... can't Passimon help?"

Passimon lay on the ground, his eyes spirals. He said woozily "We're sorry, but the 'mon you are trying to reach is not available... please hang up, and try again..."

Auratemon sighed. "Oh, fine..." she lowered herself to the ground. "Climb on, everyone. Just try not to pull any feathers..."

Kai grabbed Passimon and climbed on the ultimate bird digimon. Steelbesermon de-digivolved and did likewise, as did the rest of the group.

"All aboard?" Auratemon asked. "Good. Here we go!"

Despite her warnings not to pull any feathers, Kai found it impossible to hold on without doing so. He watched as the ground slipped away, and Auratemon wheeled towards the column of smoke where they had seen Kumihomon.


	15. Kurt’s Chapter

Kurt's Chapter

Shadow- "Lots of reviews make Shadow happy!"

Renamon- "Husa-wasat-now?"

Shadow- "Speaking in tongues?"

Renamon- "Just woke up."

Shadow- "Oh."

Renamon- "Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "Please leave a review!"

* * *

**digital world, tertiary forest, Kurt's POV**

Kurt looked down off the side of Auratemon, and saw the forest passing below them. He swallowed hard, and looked away. _I've never had a problem with heights before... but I think I understand it now..._

He looked down at Auratemon's crimson feathers, and sighed. _I hope Krystal's all right... I can't wait to tell her how I feel..._

He sighed, and looked up at the sky._ I just hope she still feels the same way..._

He was brought out of his thoughts when Kai yelled. "Look, that's Libellus's house!"

Kurt looked over the side of the bird again. _That old guy they talked to before?_

Below them was an old wooden hut, partially on fire. A giant silver bird, who had to be Kumihomon, kept beating on the hut with his claws. Kurt heard one of his yells float up to them "Come on, old man! I know you're in there! I'll make sure you never interfere with my plans again!"

Kurt's eyes then focused on something more important to him: He saw Krystal sitting on the edge of the clearing, trying to avoid the destruction. She looked utterly defeated.

"Krystal!" Kurt yelled. She looked up, startled to see Auratemon flying towards her. Kumihomon also looked up. He growled. In the blink of an eye, he morphed back into his true fox form.

Auratemon landed between him and Krystal. Kurt hopped off the back of the digimon, and ran up to Krystal. She jumped up, and hugged him. "Kurt? What are you..." her voice trailed off.

He smiled. "Krystal, it's okay. It's really me. The others already told me what happened."

She blushed, and pulled away from him. Kurt found himself at a loss for words. He had to tell her...

Kumihomon's growled tore his attention away from Krystal. "I see that Lefimon was unable to stop you..."

Mark grinned. "Yeah! And we have the real Kurt back, so you're toast!"

Kumihomon noticed Kurt staring at him oddly. "What, kid?"

Kurt frowned. "You're not exactly the picture of pure evil, are you?"

The nine-tailed fox laughed. "Well then, how about this?" He suddenly morphed into a pitch black dragon with nine heads, each breathing fire. Wicked spines slashed outwards at all angles from the creature, and a deep, thunderous growl shook the ground. Kurt took a step back. The dragon laughed, and then reverted back to the fox form. "Well, this is what I am. Get used to it, because it's the last thing you'll ever see."

Krystal ran to the front of the group. "Listen, Kumihomon, you don't have to do this!"

The fox growled. "Yes, I do, Krystal... now step aside, so I can get rid of them."

"No!" Krystal yelled.

CREST DIGVOLUTION

"Sevramon crest digivolve to... Tisonermon!"

Kumihomon sighed. "Krystal..."

"Shut up!" Serenity yelled.

CREST DIGVOLUTION

"Lacertamon crest digivolve to... Steelbesermon!"

"Passimon crest digivolve to... Megameflimon!"

Auratemon moved forward to stand with her ultimate level friends. Kurt sighed, and looked over at Patamon, unable to digivolve.

Kumihomon caught his eye. "Want your digimon to digivolve?" he said, holding Kurt's digivice between two of his claws. "Well, too bad." he crushed the digivice, creating a shower of multi-colored sparks.

Patamon shivered, and floated down to the ground, out cold. Kumihomon grinned. "Just what I like... easy prey. Kumiho Lightning!"

Bolts of energy sizzled past the four ultimate digimon, and slammed into Patamon, instantly deleting him. Kurt gasped.

Kumihomon shifted his attention to the other digimon. "You four will be the next to go. Thousand Year Inferno!"

"Hypershield!" Tisonermon yelled, blocking the attack. When the shield dropped, Kumihomon sat there, frowning. "That's going to be a problem..."

"Shut up!" Tisonermon yelled. "Kitsune Eternia!"

"Oh please..." Kumihomon said, sweeping the attack aside. "You're an ultimate. I'm a mega. Do the math."

"Then we'll just have to attack together!" Steelbesermon yelled. "Steel-"

"Kitsune Lightning!" Steelbesermon flinched, but Tisonermon had already raised its shield. When the shield dropped this time, Kumihomon had a smirk on his face. "I think I know what to do now... Thousand Year Inferno!"

"H-hypershield!" Tisonermon yelled, and the protective barrier raised again. This time, though, it wavered slightly before it finally dropped. Kumihomon grinned even wider. Before anyone could react, he yelled "Thousand Year Inferno!"

Tisonermon half-heartedly tried to raise her shield, but failed. The flames washed over the weaker fox digimon, and when they vanished, Tisonermon had reverted back to Sevramon. "S-sorry..." it whispered.

Kumihomon smiled. "Krystal? Have you changed your mind yet?"

Krystal shook her head violently. "No! And I never will!"

Kumihomon nodded, his smile fading. "Yes, I can see that now... then there's only one way to rectify this... Kumiho Lightning!"

The bolts of energy streaked past the digimon, right for Krystal. _No!_ Kurt wasn't sure if he yelled it, or just thought it, but he dashed forward and knocked Krystal out of the path of the attack. He felt something strike him in the stomach. The sky and ground pinwheeled through his vison for a moment, and then he landed on the ground. He felt something snap. He reached down below his chest, and his hand came away sticky with blood. His ears rang. _It doesn't hurt... it should hurt, shouldn't it?_

He looked over at the others. They seemed so far away... Krystal was running towards him. Somebody screamed something. His vision blurred insanely... he felt someone holding him, shaking him. His eyes found Krystal's face. Tears were welling up under her pretty blue eyes... he wanted to wipe them away, but his arm felt so heavy... like lead... like his eyelids, so heavy, he just wanted to close them for a very, very long time...

His eyelids slid shut, and he plunged headfirst into a sea of black nothingness.


	16. Courage To Move On

Courage To Move On

Shadow- "A very special day today! Do you know what it is?"

Renamon- "This story's over?"

Shadow- "...well, yes... but something other than that. Today's my birthday!"

Renamon- "It is?"

Shadow- "Yup! Oh, and I'm afraid I won't be posting any new stories for a while. I have ideas... I just lack the time to write them out..."

Renamon- "Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "Special thanks to digi-writer1392, Nameless Dragon, Renaki, Dag 417, Narissa, Grey Fanatic, Crazyeight, chaos, and kuyaga. As for the rest of you: You want your name here? Then leave a review for once!"

* * *

**digital world, tertiary forest, Krystal's POV**

"No! Kurt!" Krystal felt tears blurring her vision, but ignored them. She saw his eyes close. _No... _She reached out for his wrist. _Like they said in health class, count the beats..._

She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the incessant pulse of Kurt's heart. The beats slowed... then ceased. Krystal choked back a sob.

Kumihomon spoke. He sounded so far away... "Krystal. I will ask you one last time. Come with me, and we can forget about these children."

Krystal found herself on her feet, facing the dark fox digimon. She half-choked, then screamed, surprising even herself. "Damn you! You bastard! Just fucking die!!!"

She took a breath, and choked back a sob. "Kurt..." she whispered. She felt her digivice light up in her hand.

WARP DIGIVOLUTION

"Sevramon warp digivolve to... Hikitsunemon!"

Krystal opened her tear-filled eyes. A nine-tailed fox stood before her, made entirely of brilliant light. The fox looked at her with brilliant turquoise eyes. "S-sevramon?" Krystal whispered.

Her digimon smiled. "I'm Hikitsunemon now... and I will avenge Kurt."

Krystal nodded, feeling only emptiness inside. _I don't want revenge, I want Kurt..._

The brilliant fox turned back to Kuumihomon, still apparently stunned. "Wh-what-"

"Kumihomon! You will die here today!" Hikitsunemon yelled. "Kitsune Inlustris!"

Krystal shielded her eyes as everything turned brilliant with an all-encompassing light. She heard Kumihomon screamed, a sound like a thousand nails over a chalkboard.

When the light faded, Kumihomon remained standing, though it was obvious that it took a tremendous effort to do so. "Damn you... I will destroy you! Thousand Year Inferno!"

"Reversal Shield!" Hikitsunemon yelled. The dark flames paused, as if contained by an invisible bubble, before shooting backwards, right at Kumihomon. There was no way to miss.

The flames washed over the digimon, its screams drowned out by the roaring of the fires. When the attack dispersed, Kumihomon was on his knees, trying desperately to keep his data from dispersing. "T-transform!" The fox morphed into the giant bird form. The bird shakily took to the air, desperately trying to escape.

"Don't let him escape!" Hikitsunemon shouted to the three ultimate-level digimon. "Combine your attacks and destroy him forever!"

The three digimon nodded. "Mettalic Flare!" "Beak Crusher!" "Gale Force Blade!"

Hikitsunemon added her attack, as well. "Light of a Thousand Tails!"

The attacks merged, morphed, and combined into a single river of power, sweeping over the fleeing Kumihomon. Krystal thought she heard the digimon swear vengeance on them, but then the attack was gone, as was Kumihomon.

Mark cheered. "Yeah! We did it!"

Hikitsunemon de-digivolved back into Sevramon, and the little fox collapsed with exhaustion.

Serenity hugged Kai, but the two of them embarrassedly broke apart. Kai blushed, paused for a moment, and finally kissed Serenity. The two of the blushed. Krystal looked away, unable to bear the thought after Kurt had... she choked back another sob.

Krystal heard something creak, and looked up to see Libellus peek out of his hut, unharmed. "...is it over?"

Krystal nodded, not trusting her voice.

Libellus sighed with relief. "Excellent..." he addressed the entire group. "Come on, all of you, come inside... that is, if you still want to return home."

The other three digidestined hurried into the hut. Krystal paused for a moment, then followed the others.

Krystal looked around at the small island within the house... but still felt only deep pangs of sorrow within herself. She followed the others up the beach and into Libellus's house.

Libellus walked to the end of the room, next to a giant screen. He motioned for all of them to sit down. Krystal sat down with the others.

Libellus nodded. "I... saw what happened to Kurt... I am deeply sorry for what happened. However, your adventure is at an end, and you may now safely return home."

Kai looked up. "Home?" he paused for a moment. "...what about Kurt?" Krystal felt something inside her ache harder. "What do we tell his family?"

"Fortunately, outside events had progressed so that this is easy to explain." Libellus said. "Or, at least, easier." He flipped on the monitor.

An image of their school appeared. Instead of classes being in session, however, flames erupted from the roof, and the front lawn was a maze of firefighters.

It took the digidestined a moment to think back on what had happened before they had left. Finally, Serenity said. "That fire drill... wasn't just a drill?"

"Apparently not." Libellus said. "It appears that a broken air conditioning sparked the blaze... rather ironic." he smiled faintly. "Fortunately, none of your classmates were lost in the fire... but that doesn't mean that no one was left behind..."

Krystal suddenly understood. "You want us to say that Kurt died in the fire."

Libellus nodded. "Precisely."

Krystal shook her head. "...I think that kind of cheapens his memory..."

Libellus sighed. "I agree... but what are you going to do, tell everyone that he was killed by a shape-shifted creature from another universe? Who would believe that? It's much easier to tell them a plausible lie."

Krystal sighed. "...I guess..."

Libellus nodded. "Good. Of course, because of this turn of events, there is still a choice left open to you... you could always pretend that you, too, were killed in the fire, and stay here."

Mark laughed. "Are you kidding? I want to get home! Right, guys?"

Serenity and Kai nodded. Krystal remained silent.

"...right?" Mark asked again.

_Should I really go? _Krystal wondered. _Kurt's gone now... _she felt another needle of pain in her heart _...so, I could just... but what about mom? And dad? Can I just leave them?_

She sighed, finally making her choice. "...I'd like to return home, as well."

Libellus nodded. "Excellent. It will take a minute to warm up the portal... so you can say goodbye to your digimon partners."

The other three turned to their digimon as Krystal turned to Sevramon. "Hey... Sevramon?" she whispered. "...thanks..."

The little fox smiled. "Of course! What are friends for, right?"

Krystal choked back a sob, then hugged the little digimon. Sevramon gasped. "Hey! Not so tight!"

Krystal laughed, and let go. "Sorry..."

The little fox smiled. "Haven't changed much from when we started, have you? ...I guess that means you'll be all right."

Krystal swallowed the lump in her throat, and nodded.

Sevramon smiled. "Hey, come on... you have the crest of courage, right? You can make it through this... and anything else that you face." the fox winked. "I know it."

Krystal smiled. "Thanks, Sevramon... for everything."

The little fox nodded. Krystal looked over as Libellus said. "Come on, now, the portal's all ready."

Krystal stood up, and walked over to the computer that Libellus had set up. Standing next to her new friends, Krystal looked back at Sevramon and the others digimon. Suddenly realizing she had forgotten something, Krystal yelled out "Goodbye, Sevramon!"

As Libellus turned the device on, Krystal heard Sevramon say "Not goodbye! We'll see each other again, I promise!"

"I promise too!" Krystal said, as she was pulled into the portal, back to the real world, where only problems faced them. Krystal smiled inwardly.

_...but with Sevramon's help, I can get through anything..._


End file.
